Man shot by police is being treated at Inova Fairfax Hospital

March 13, 2012|By MATTHEW UMSTEAD | matthew.umstead@herald-mail.com

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — A man whom Martinsburg Police shot in the chest and then shocked with a stun gun multiple times Sunday following a dispute was being treated at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va., police said Monday.

Hospital spokesman Tony Raker said Douglas Charles Butler was not listed as a patient, but Detective S.F. Doyle said Butler, 44, was still at the hospital.

Doyle declined to identify the officer who shot Butler. The officer was placed on paid administrative leave per standard procedure, Doyle said.

A warrant charging Butler, 44, of 423 Winchester Ave., Apt. 8, with attempted malicious wounding was issued by Berkeley County Magistrate Ruth Donaldson, but the document was not released Monday.

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Police officers responded to the 400 block of Winchester Avenue for a report of a man who threatened another person with a sharp object and broke the person’s car window, police had said.

Officers initially were unable to find the assailant, but later spotted him at about 4:35 p.m. on Norwalk Avenue near Porter Avenue, Doyle said.

The man walked toward an officer with a railroad spike in his hand with the spike “raised above his head in a stabbing position,” Doyle said.

The officer told the man several times to drop the spike and to get on the ground, but he did not follow the orders, Doyle said in the release.

As the suspect moved closer to the officer, who was backing away, the officer drew his gun and continued to give the suspect verbal commands, Doyle said. The suspect did not comply with the orders, Doyle said.

The officer fired one round, striking the suspect in the chest, Doyle said in the release.

The suspect lowered the spike, turned around and started walking away from the officer, Doyle said.

A second officer arrived and ordered the man to drop the spike and to get on the ground, Doyle said.

The suspect did not comply with that officer’s commands and the officer shocked the man with a stun gun, Doyle said.

The man fell to the ground but continued to be noncomplaint and was shocked multiple times until he dropped the spike, Doyle said.

Sunday’s incident was the second shooting by a Martinsburg officer in the last seven months. On Sept. 26, police shot a man multiple times during an apparent carjacking that started at Martinsburg Mall and ended in the ATM drive-through lane at My Bank! First United Bank & Trust at 980 Foxcroft Ave.

The man died from his injuries. A woman and her 4-year-old child were in the car during the carjacking.

A Berkeley County grand jury in October ruled that the shooting was justifiable and no charges were filed.